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Donald Trump Praises Syrian President After Meeting In Riyadh; Qatari Prime Minister Dismisses Controversy Over Plan To Gift Donald Trump Jet; IDF Issues Evacuation Orders For Gaza City Neighborhood; Ukraine And Russia To Hold First Direct Talks Since March 2022; Defense to Cross-examine Combs' Ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura Today; Daughter of Crypto Currency CEO Escapes Kidnapping Attempt in France; Leave One Day Marks Historic Opening at the Cannes Film Festival. Aired 2-2:45a ET

Aired May 15, 2025 - 02:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[02:00:30]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and everyone streaming us on CNN, Max, I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, U.S. President Donald Trump is welcomed to Qatar with camels and cyber trucks announcing a multibillion dollar deal for Boeing planes and meeting Syria's jihadist turned president.

Cease fire talks between Russia and Ukraine are set to begin in Turkey, but there is a notable absence.

And an attempted kidnapping in broad daylight, just the latest in a string of violent incidents connected to crypto currency in France.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. Donald Trump is beginning the third day of his Middle East tour in Doha, he is expected to meet with business leaders and then U.S. forces in the coming hours before heading to his final stop, the UAE.

The U.S. president traveled to Qatar Wednesday after holding an informal meeting in Riyadh with Syria's new president, former militant Ahmed al-Sharaa. Mr. Trump has announced that he plans to remove decades old sanctions on Syria and is praising the country's leader as the U.S. explores the possibility of normalizing diplomatic relations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How did you find the Syrian president?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Great. I think very good, young, attractive guy, tough guy, you know. Strong past, very strong past. Fighter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does that worry you at all?

TRUMP: But he's got a real shot at pulling it together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Trump received a lavish welcome in Doha and was greeted by camels and red cyber trucks upon arriving Wednesday. Later, the U.S. president announced a deal for Qatar to purchase 160 jets from U.S. airplane manufacturer Boeing. CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more details now from Doha.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: President Trump completing another whirlwind day here in Doha, flying from Riyadh, where he started the day visiting the new Syrian president. Extraordinary set of images from that private meeting. The first time in 25 years an American president has met a new Syrian leader, a day after lifting sanctions for Syria.

The president has been suggesting or teasing all week long that he could perhaps upend his agenda here and go to Turkey to personally mediate the cease fire discussions between Russia and Ukraine. The president said earlier today he was thinking about it, but as soon as the Kremlin said that Vladimir Putin is not on the delegation list, the White House confirming to CNN that President Trump is not going to Turkey, which is what officials were sort of suggesting all day long.

But the president did, once again, as he was speaking here in Doha, have strong words for neighboring Iran.

TRUMP: You're also working with us very closely with respect to negotiating a deal with Iran, which is the far friendlier course that you would see. I mean, two courses, there's only two courses. There aren't three or four or five, there's two. There's a friendly and a non-friendly. And non-friendly is a violent course, and I don't want that. I'll say it up front. I don't want that, but they have to get moving.

ZELENY: It is the second straight day President Trump has talked about Iran saying that the country will never get a nuclear weapon, but wants the country and leaders to come to the table and further nuclear talks.

So, as the president continues his journey here, he'll be meeting with military forces at the Al Udeid military base, the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East. It, of course, is the site of many Afghan refugees, many of the fighting over the last two decades or so, Iraq and Afghanistan, both the theaters have gone from there.

So, the president, we're told, will be delivering a campaign style rally before going on to the UAE and returning to Washington on Friday.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Doha.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Joining me now from London is Jasmine El-Gamal, a Middle East analyst and former Middle East adviser at the Pentagon. Appreciate you being with us.

[02:05:01]

JASMINE EL-GAMAL, FORMER PENTAGON MIDDLE EAST ADVISER: Good morning, Rosemary. Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: Of course. Well, on this third day of U.S. President Donald Trump's high stakes Middle East trip, he is now in Doha, Qatar, but before leaving the Saudi capital, Riyadh, President Trump met with Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, announcing plans to lift sanctions on that country, he praised the new leader, but should he have linked sanction relief more directly to Syria committing to normalize relations with Israel?

EL-GAMAL: That's a good question, Rosemary. I mean, obviously it's one that people have been asking. And Donald Trump did mention normalization with Israel a couple of times on the trip, one in his meeting with President Sharaa and one with Saudi Crown Prince MBS, although he did say that Saudi Arabia should take its own time, and wasn't really pushing for it.

The fact is, I do think it's a positive thing that these two issues are not linked, because the issue with normalization with Saudi Arabia -- sorry, with Israel, has been linked by the Arab countries, by the Arab states that haven't yet normalized with progress on a two state solution, a Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

And, of course, an end to the wa -- to the war in Gaza, a cease fire, the return of the hostages, and all of that stuff that really has been one step forward, you know, a million steps back over the last few months. While the other files are more optimistic, they're easier to move forward on and when it comes to the sanctions in Syria, particularly, these sanctions, as you know, were Assad era sanctions. They were sanctioning Assad for his actions, and they really ended up being very punitive against the Syrian people, really preventing them from moving forward with their lives in a constructive way.

And so, the fact that these sanctions are now being lifted, according to President Trump, I think it will be a bit more complicated to implement. It really is about giving Syria a chance and the Syrian people a chance. It's not a reward for Ahmed al-Sharaa, the president. And as such, I really don't think that it should be linked to anything else other than giving the Syrian people an opportunity to rebuild their lives.

CHURCH: And President Trump was asked if this Middle East visit was essentially sidelining Israel, but he insists it's not, and says it's actually helping that country. What's your view on this? And of course, the optics of Israel left out of this trip? EL-GAMAL: Well, a couple of things. I mean, President Trump reportedly wanted to focus on coming out of this trip with a lot of positive deliverables, and given that Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel has been really intransigent when it comes to negotiations and ending the war in Gaza, the president reportedly felt that he wasn't going to get anything positive out of this trip, and it is being taken as a sign, as a message to Netanyahu that the president is not happy with his intransigence. So, that's why he avoided Israel on the trip, and Defense Secretary Pete Hhegseth also canceled a scheduled trip to Israel.

Now, that said, Rosemary, the president, as you said, did say that all of what was happening on this trip and in the region is good for Israel. And that's true, the fact that talks are ongoing with Iran to resolve the issue with Iran diplomatically, to prevent it from getting a nuclear weapon diplomatically, avoiding a war, helping Syria turn a new page, move into a new, more peaceful chapter, supporting the Syrian president, who's made it clear that he doesn't want to be enemies with Israel and doesn't want to fight with Israel, basically supporting any kind of stability in the region and security around Israel is good for Israel, and that's what Israelis are saying themselves.

There was an open letter to President Trump by several former Israeli officials, civil society activists, and they were all saying the same thing. They were saying, President Trump, please use the trauma of October 7th to help all of the people in the region move forward and turn a new page.

So, a lot of the Israeli public is also rallying around this idea of turning a new page, ending the war, getting the hostages back and moving forward. And Prime Minister Netanyahu and his coalition partner seem to be the only one standing in the way.

CHURCH: And Jasmine, you mentioned Iran there. I mean, it was again the focus of President Trump's Middle East tour. He repeated that Iran would never get a nuclear weapon, but he has extended an olive branch to Tehran if it chooses another path forward. So, where do you see this, U.S.-Iran relationship going from here?

EL-GAMAL: It's obviously a very fraught one, and no one want -- you know, I don't want to predict anything. Obviously this is such a volatile situation and these are not easy negotiations.

[02:10:09]

But a couple of things, you know, Iran is at its weakest point, that it has been. In a long time, a lot of its proxies, like Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas and Gaza have been severely weakened in the fighting with Israel over the last year. It can't depend so much on that military pressure option that it's had in the past. It's very -- the situation, the economic situation in Iran is severely dire, and the Iranian leaders are under severe pressure, so it makes them more likely to enter into a deal with the U.S. They may talk a big game in the beginning, but I think the fact that there have now been four rounds of direct talks with the U.S. tells us something positive about the situation.

And likewise, in Gaza, when it comes to Hamas, what we're hearing out of reports in from the Palestinians and in Doha that Hamas has not completely rejected the idea of disarming in exchange for a withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and an end to the war, which is basically what the Arabs presented as their plan for a post war Gaza in Cairo recently, if you'll remember.

So, it seems that a lot of these steps, a lot of the chips are kind of falling in place. And like I said, now it appears that Prime Minister Netanyahu and his coalition are the sticking point, and the special envoy Steve Witkoff has spent about two hours worth hearing and as was reported in the Israeli press, on the phone with Netanyahu after his negotiators in Doha said that they really had very little mandate to negotiate.

So, Steve Witkoff picked up the phone and spoke directly to Netanyahu. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that he's been able to extract any concessions yet, but I know the efforts will be ongoing.

CHURCH: Jasmine El-Gamal, many thanks for joining us. Appreciate it.

EL-GAMAL: Thanks so much, Rosemary.

CHURCH: The Qatari Prime Minister is dismissing the controversies surrounding President Trump's plan to accept the gift of a Boeing jet from Qatar to be used initially as Air Force One. CNN's Becky Anderson spoke to him on Wednesday, and here is part of that interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Can we take a moment to get to the bottom of this offer by Qatar of a multi-million dollar Boeing 747-8 to President Trump? When did your government first start talking to the U.S. about this aircraft, and who broached the subject first? Was it the U.S. or was it Qatar?

MOHAMMED BIN ABDULRAHMAN BIN JASSIM AL THANI, QATARI FOREIGN MINISTER: Well, actually, it's a -- you know, I know that there were a lot of speculations about this topic. I don't know what is the reason that instigate this. This is a very simple government-to-government dealing.

ANDERSON: The offer still stands. Can we talk about Syria? President Trump wants Syria to normalize relations with Israel. Your reaction to what would be a seismic shift in geopolitics were that to happen? Do you expect that to happen?

AL-THANI: Well, what we are hearing from the Syrian government, they don't want to engage in war with their neighbors. They want to have a peace with their neighbors. Israel has occupied territories in Syria. If they have a deal that will make sure that the Syrian lands are back to their people, we don't see an obstacle to have a peace together and normalization together. We should go back to the root cause of the issue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And we'll have much more of that to interview in the next hour. The Qatari Prime Minister also weighed in on the nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran and much more, that's coming up in about one hour from now.

Israeli air strikes continue to bombard Gaza as cease fire talks are being held in Qatar. Palestinian officials say at least 36 more people were killed in overnight strikes, and the death toll is expected to rise as many victims are still trapped under the rubble.

That's coming on the heels of multiple Israeli strikes earlier this week that have left dozens of Palestinians dead. Multiple sources say Israel targeted Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more. And a warning, some of the video you're about to see is graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's still no confirmation on whether those Israeli air strikes at a hospital in southern Gaza actually killed their intended target. That target, of course, was Muhammad Sinwar, Hamas' de facto leader in Gaza, whom Israel targeted with a series of very powerful air strikes on the European hospital in Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip.

And we can see from videos of the moment of impact on this CCTV video, the power of this blast that even threw people into the air who were standing in the courtyard of that European hospital, as well as in footage of the aftermath of that strike, you can see these enormous craters that were caused by what appears to be very large bunker busting bombs designed to target underground infrastructure.

[02:15:17]

And indeed, the Israeli military claimed that there was an underground facility underneath or near that European Hospital in Gaza, where they claim, according to our sources, that Muhammad Sinwar was located. It could take days or perhaps even weeks before the military is actually able to confirm whether or not he was killed in this strike.

But in the meantime, we are aware of other casualties as a result of this strike. At least 28 people were killed, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, more than 50 others injured in a strike that also damaged that hospital.

It comes at a time when hospitals in Gaza are already suffering under the strain of a lack of fuel, a lack of medical supplies getting into Gaza as Israel's total siege of the Strip now stretches into its third month.

It was just one of a series of very deadly strikes that we have seen in Gaza over the course of the last 24 hours or so, including strikes in northern Gaza that killed more than 50 people. Bodies were flowing into the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, including the bodies of many children and one baby carried by his father, and you can see the toll as Israel not only seems to be continuing but intensifying these air strikes, even as negotiations are ongoing, including in the Qatari capital of Doha, to see if a cease fire agreement between Israel and Hamas can be reached in the wake of Hamas choosing to release the last living American hostage Edan Alexander.

Indeed, the Israeli military's operations appear to be intensifying in Gaza, with the IDF issuing an evacuation order for large swathes of the Al Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City.

The Israeli military saying that Hamas is embedded in civilian infrastructure in that area and vowing that there will be intense strikes there. Those evacuation orders prompted panic, including at Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where patients began to leave.

As soon as those evacuation orders were issued, the hospital later got a call telling them that they were not actually part of the evacuation orders, despite that hospital having been specifically mentioned in a tweet by the Israeli military's Arabic language spokesman.

Several schools in that area that have become shelters for displaced Palestinians were included in this evacuation order, and that sent panic coursing among thousands of displaced Palestinians in that area, many of whom were uncertain of what to do, given that this evacuation order didn't say when these strikes would begin and how long people would have in order to try and get to safety.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Just ahead, high hopes but big hurdles to overcome as Russia and Ukraine prepare for what could be their first face-to -face talks in years, back with that and more in just a moment.

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[02:22:47]

CHURCH: These images from Ukraine appear to show the aftermath of a Russian missile attack that reportedly killed three people on Wednesday. It happened at an industrial site near the city of Sumy in eastern Ukraine, where crews have been working to put out fires and clear debris.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has accused Russia of launching 110 drone strikes overnight, killing five people, and Russia says its air defenses destroyed two Ukrainian drones.

Now, this comes as Russia and Ukraine are poised to hold their first direct talks in more than three years, sometime soon, but questions remain over who will actually show up and if the meeting will even happen.

It was Vladimir Putin himself who proposed these peace talks in Istanbul just a few days ago, but the Kremlin has now confirmed he will not attend, and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he will only meet with the Russian president, not his envoys.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): In fact, it is now more obvious to the entire world than at any other point during the full scale war, it is clear that the only obstacle to establishing peace is the lack of a clear will from Russia to do so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Donald Trump, while on his tour of the Middle East, has suggested he might join the talks in Turkey, "If it's helpful." But the White House has since confirmed the U.S. president will not be going. Other senior U.S. officials will be there to observe.

And earlier, I spoke with former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, William Taylor, and asked what significance these talks will have if they do go forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: I think they will be significant in that it will be very clear who's serious about peace. It will be very clear that Ukrainians are there in full force. It will be very clear that the Americans have sent a senior delegation, not the president, Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, and two special envoys. The Turks will be there.

So, everybody will be there. A low level Russian delegation will be there. So, the senior people will be there, except for Vladimir Putin, and that suggests to me that he's not serious about these talks.

[02:25:09]

CHURCH: Yes, that was my next question. In fact, you know, your reading of both Putin and Donald Trump bailing out. I mean, does this put the whole peace effort in jeopardy as Trump lost interest, do you think?

TAYLOR: I don't think he's lost interest. I think he was waiting to see if Putin would show up. President Trump said that if President Putin showed up, and they're having conversations with President Zelenskyy, that he Trump would show up as well. It's really Putin who dropped the ball. It's really Putin who is opposing and putting the problem into these negotiations.

So, now it's up to you ask the right question. What's next? It's now up to the Europeans, the British, the French and the polls have indicated, and the E.U. have all indicated, that if Putin is not serious about a 30 day cease fire, they will put additional sanctions on them.

By the way, they had conversations with President Trump last weekend, which indicated that President Trump may also go with sanctions in order to force President Putin to be serious about these negotiations. CHURCH: But they do keep talking about these sanctions, don't they, and if they applied these sanctions, doesn't that give them leverage? And wouldn't that be more likely an inspiration for Putin to come to these talks?

TAYLOR: Absolutely right. Absolutely right. Some indication that the Europeans are taking the first steps toward applying these new round of sanctions.

Last week, we heard actually, that U.S. Treasury had put together a sanctions package for review by the White House. So, there are steps being taken to impose more sanctions on Putin now that he's indicated that he's not serious about these negotiations, that was the deal.

Come to the table, negotiate, or we'll put sanctions on and the steps are now being taken to put those sanctions in place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Disturbing testimony about physical abuse from the former girlfriend of music mogul Sean Diddy Combs in his criminal trial, details of her second day on the stand after the break.

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[02:30:00]

CHURCH: In the coming hours, defense attorneys will get their chance to question the former girlfriend of Sean "Diddy" Combs in his racketeering and sex trafficking trial. During her second day of testimony on Wednesday, Cassie Ventura described how she suffered injuries and other medical issues from Combs' assaults and from his drug-fueled sex parties or so-called freak offs. She said, "I feared for my career, I feared for my family. It's horrible. It's disgusting. No one should do that to anyone."

CNN's Kara Scannell reports from New York.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Cassie Ventura, the government star witness in their case against Sean "Diddy" Combs will be back on the witness stand on Thursday and Combs' attorneys will have their first chance to cross-examine her. Ventura finished a second emotional day of testimony on Wednesday where she testified about the physical violence, she said, she sustained at Combs' hand. The jury saw numerous photos, images of bruises, swollen lips, black eyes that Ventura said Combs had given her sometimes because she was just sleeping instead of packing for a trip.

She also testified that Combs had attempted to blackmail her, threatening to release images and videos of the freak offs to the public if she didn't stick with what he wanted her to do. She testified at the trial saying I felt trapped. Ventura also said that she became addicted to opiates in order to escape the freak offs and the violence that she sustained with Combs. And she said years after they broke up, she became suicidal and when she had flashbacks of her experiences with Combs. She said she was testifying at the trial because what's right is right, what's wrong is wrong, I'm here to do the right thing. The cross-examination will start first thing Thursday morning.

Kara Scannell, CNN, New York.

CHURCH: And we'll be right back.

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[02:38:22]

CHURCH: The French Interior Minister will hold an emergency meeting Friday with crypto currency executives to discuss a string of recent attacks targeting people with ties to the industry. The latest happened Tuesday when the daughter of a crypto CEO narrowly escaped a kidnapping attempt in broad daylight.

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(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Four masked men attacked the daughter of the Head of Paymium, along with her partner and their child. The three fought back with the help of bystanders and only suffered minor injuries. In January, another crypto executive and his wife were kidnapped from their home in Central France. The co-founder of the firm Ledger had his hand mutilated before being freed.

The Cannes Film Festival is underway after an historic opening. For the first time in the prestigious festival's history, the showcase opened with a feature film debut directed by a woman. The movie is called "Partir Un Jour," translated as Leave One Day, by French Director, Amelie Bonnin. The film is full of humor, drama, and musical numbers. It follows the story of a woman who dreams of opening a fine- dining restaurant while navigating her family and relationships and confronting her past. The director said finding out her film would open the festival was the biggest surprise.

[02:40:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMELIE BONNIN, FILMMAKER (through translator): It's really incredible and an opportunity I never even dreamt of. In regards to gender equality and seeing change, which is something we've hoped for and have been fighting for, to see that a female filmmaker gets to open the festival and to see more female filmmakers in the selection shows that we're making progress with the things we believe in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The director says she wanted this film to share the experiences of a woman. Leave One Day is screening out of competition at The Cannes Film Festival.

I want to thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. "World Sport" is up next. Then I'll be back at the top of the hour with more "CNN Newsroom." Do stay with us.

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[02:45:00]

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